Sewing Intangibles of Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt

As noted in previous posts, fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) are intangible assets (or liabilities) depending on who the recipient(s) may be, the content-context of what’s being conveyed, the motive – intent of the individual, movement, or organization conveying FUD, and how may influence and/or manifest as actions – reactions from/by those being targeted and receptive to the message.

It’s important to recognize, when an individual(s) achieves or assumes some type of leadership – spokesperson role that includes having a platform to exploit – intensify (current, future) fears, uncertainties, and doubts beyond the realities can influence – motivate the receptive to supportively band together.

A seemingly frequent outcome of purveyors of FUD is the listeners (observers, recipients, targets) to such pronouncements will acquire a sense of connection to those proselytizing. And, at some point will become regressively disillusioned to the point of wholly disregarding-dismissing alternative facts, reason, context, and reality in favor of the broad, over dramatized generalizations and half-truths being espoused.

One can routinely observe FUD principles or carefully contrived variations exploitatively woven into media advertisements as underliers to introducing and selling a large percentage of (new) products and services in ways that appeal to – accommodate – address broad numbers of prospective buyer’s – client’s circumstances, needs, aspirations, or frustrations with the status quo. Numerous researchers attribute such receptivity to the notion that fear, uncertainty, and doubt are grammatically and visually easy to convey.

Too, in many contexts, well scripted presentations (advertisements) that incorporate timely, relevant, and specific elements of FUD can influence receptive parties to assume there are relatively quick and simple (single) fixes. In other words, if x is purchased and deployed (generalization) one’s problems and/or frustrations, at least how they are perceived, will be substantially reduced, if not go away altogether. Of course, that seldom happens in full.